Oops
by Kohaku no Hime
Summary: All right, time for some math class. What do you get when you have a rather feisty Australian, a national holiday, and fireworks? The solution: pure chaos. Second and final chapter up.
1. Oops

_Yet another story with my biker boys has come forth (and this is actually set during DOOM). I had to fulfill a request given to me by Alister's Girlfriend. She asked for this recently, and after much debate I finally hit upon an idea and off I went. Plus, it was the Fourth of July. I had to do something..._

_All right, disclaimers for all the newbies: Non-yaoi, and I is owning nothing of Yu-Gi-Oh! except plot, my biker boys, and Seto Kaiba...what, I'm allowed to dream, aren't I?_

_All flames will be fed to the Killer Rabbit and you may receive a visit from said creature._

_Go ahead and read now._

* * *

"Valon, are you sure you rigged these correctly?" asked Alister pensively, eyeing the haphazard selection of precariously rigged fireworks uneasily.

The brunette nodded. "O' course I am, mate. Don' you 'ave any faith in me at all?"

"…Do you _really_ want an answer to that?"

Valon scoffed, his cerulean eyes lit up mischievously. "Aw c'mon, loosen up a bit, will ya? 'S'not like I'm gonna blow up the whole bloody temple. If you don' wanna watch, then go stick your nose in a book or summat."

The two DOOM soldiers were standing inside one of the seldom used halls, slightly smaller than the Great Hall they congregated in and barely larger than the Soul Room. Their location was chosen based on its proximity to the roof and its wide, sprawling balcony; the roof was too sloped to venture out on, and therefore they were forced to launch their fireworks from a window.

Of course, Alister was re-thinking that strategy after he saw what Valon had done.

The redhead had no idea how on earth Valon had managed to procure so many fireworks at once, seeing how as they rarely ventured from the temple unless on a soul-collecting expedition. Alister had a lingering suspicion that the Australian had gotten a hold of the explosives on their last mission, back in May; Valon had disappeared briefly and then reappeared with a suspicious looking bundle.

"Does Raphael know you have these?" he asked tiredly, not really expecting an answer.

He certain that the tough-looking man did not; the blonde had taken it upon himself to keep a close eye on the teenager in general, mainly because Valon was the one who always managed to land in some kind of trouble.

And after staring at this rig, Alister felt justified in saying he knew why.

Valon had apparently decided to rig all of the explosives (all _seventy _of them, if he had to wager a guess) to one main fuse. Said main fuse went to all of them, and Alister was not too terribly pleased to discover the brunette had used what looked to be a haphazardly built, enlarged version of a drying rack to accommodate them all; a good wind would knock the contraption over and the fireworks would end up everywhere in the room. What made matters worse was the fact all of the fireworks were professional grade— Alister wondered where on earth Valon had gotten the money to pay for them all.

"Valon, do you honestly think that this is safe? Why not launch these outside?" asked Alister, his gray eyes narrowed slightly.

"'Cause the last time I tried, Dartz spazzed out. 'e was convinced I would blow the temple sky 'igh and made me get rid o' 'em all."

"Really? When was this?" wondered Alister, his curiosity piqued. It was an interesting image to think about—Dartz rarely 'spazzed' about anything.

"Couple o' Christmas' ago, I reckon. Anyway, there isn' 'nough room t' launch all o' 'em out there; I'd 'avta set 'em off one by one, and tha's no fun a' all."

"Gee, I wonder why. Hmm, let me think on this for a minute… oh yeah. Because it's _safer,"_ retorted Alister sardonically.

Valon stuck his tongue out and lightly cuffed Alister's shoulder. "If you don' like it, don' watch."

"Interestingly enough, I want to see how this turns out. And besides, knowing what you're doing with objects that, when they go off, sound like bombs reassures me greater than being startled out of a sound sleep and thinking I'm in a warzone."

Valon grinned and pulled out the lighter he had lifted from the kitchen earlier. He lit the fuse and sat back on his haunches, watching the little tongue of flame rapidly travel to their final destinations. "Well, mate, 'ere we go!" he cried, eyes lighting up in delight.

Fate, sometimes, can be a funny thing. She can be watching events unfold and decide to let them occur without any interference, or she can choose to let things go drastically wrong and events can descend into mass chaos.

It turns out that Fate was bored today.

At the moment that the fuse was halfway down to its destination, Raphael happened to open the door to the hall. He had been searching for the pair of them under Dartz's request; they were needed for a briefing of their latest assignment. Three seconds after Raphael opened the door, the wind current generated by opening the door went through the spacious room and hit the fuse, accelerating it faster than it was intended to go. With roughly five seconds to go before the fuse lit the fireworks, a strong breeze from an oncoming storm front hit Valon's crudely-made launchpad and it fell over.

Guess what direction the wind was coming from?

Raphael, Alister and Valon all swore afterward that the contraption fell in slow motion on purpose, and as it came to rest facing them Valon had enough time to look at his associates and say in a weak voice, "Oops."

Then all Hell broke loose.

With a loud shriek that was intensified by their numbers, the fireworks went off, some of them flying upward to collide with the ceiling and explode in dazzling and varying colors, while a few actually made it out the window.

Unfortunately, most of them ended up flying at the three bikers, and they soon found themselves doing a very unique way of playing dodgeball.

"Valon, what on earth were you thinking?" yelled Raphael, barely managing to sidestep a sparkler before ducking his head to prevent a large rocket from colliding with it.

"I told you that this wasn't safe!" snapped Alister, forced to leap in the air to avoid a low-flying firecracker that was hissing and spitting madly as it flew past him.

The brunette was not paying too much attention—his jacket had just caught fire and he was in the middle of stop-drop-roll to put it out.

It felt like ages before the last firework exploded in a burst of color and smoke, and the aftermath was then assessed with a semblance of suppressed calm.

Not only had Valon's jacket caught fire, but his hands were burned badly when he had grabbed a rocket from midair that had been on course to collide with Raphael's face and his hair was even more unruly than normal. The left side of Alister's hair had caught on fire at one point, hence the smell of sizzled hair, and his clothes looked in fairly bad shape. Raphael had sustained several small burns and his coat had also caught fire, as had one of his eyebrows. All three of them were streaked in soot and they smelled strongly of burnt hair and gunpowder.

There was a very long pause while they took in the other's appearance before Valon sheepishly shrugged and said in a weakly enthusiastic voice, "Happy Fourth o' July, fellas."

The three of them stared at each other for one last moment, and then the older two bikers rose to their feet, picked up Valon by the arms, and silently marched him out of the room. They walked down the stairs, straight past Mai—who looked utterly alarmed (no doubt because of the fireworks)—and Dartz, who looked rather alarming in his fury. But the two bikers kept on walking, ignoring everything until they arrived at the front gate, where they promptly dropped Valon on the ground.

"Aw, c'mon fellas—!"

"You are sleeping out here tonight."

"Raph, you can't be serious!"

"Does it look like we're joking? We aren't letting you back in until we are confident you won't do stupid things like this again."

"Alister, I'll be out 'ere forever—"

"Good _night_, Valon."

"But—!"

SLAM!

Valon found himself staring at the now shut gate to the Orichalcos temple and it took him a moment before he realized that his two partners had locked him out off his home. He stared at the door for one more long moment before he sighed heavily and looked up to the heavens.

"Maybe I should wait awhile before I set off the rest o' the fireworks…"


	2. Here We Go Again

_This second and final chapter is dedicated to both Alister's Girlfriend and jadedvalley._

* * *

Raphael felt like there was something amiss that morning when he and Alister walked into the Great Hall.

It had only been two days since that horrible fiasco with the Fourth of July fireworks 'display.' Alister had entered into his room and rarely came out of it because of his hair; when he did, his head was securely covered and he skulked around in the corridors, avoiding everyone else as if they carried the plague. Raphael had walked into the bathroom yesterday to find Alister observing the re-growth of his hair (which, thanks to one firework, had burned half of the left side off). Thankfully, Raphael would have the full volume of his eyebrow back in a week or two; Alister, meanwhile, had to wait a month until his hair grew back in.

Valon was still sleeping outside, though they had caved a bit and allowed him to go inside for meals, bathroom, and to pitch a tent in the courtyard. But beyond that, the Australian was pretty much exiled from the temple until they felt he had learned a lesson. Not only had he done something illegal by setting off his firecrackers, but he had also tried to launch them all _inside _a building.

He sighed, shaking his head as Alister's bedroom door opened and the other male slipped into the hallway, wearing a black hoodie with the hood drawn up to hide his hair. A few moments later, they were joined by Mai, who looked irritatingly amused at both of the men's predicaments. Dartz had called them all for a briefing of their next mission (which was supposed to happen on Saturday, but a certain brunette's activities disrupted that schedule).

As the trio entered the Great Hall, Valon looked up over at them and waved cheerily at them. A benefit of sleeping outside had Valon being the first one in instead of being late. "'ey, fellas! 'ello, Mai!"

Raphael dipped his head curtly. "Good morning, Valon."

The facial expression fell on the brunette's face. "Are you blokes still mad a' me?"

Alister glared, his gray eyes flashing. "I have no idea why I wouldn't be mad at you. You set my hair on fire and you expect me to greet you with open arms and the song of friendship?"

Valon scowled. "I warned you to leave when I was settin' 'em up to begin with. You were the one who thought it'd be interestin' to watch. And I didn' 'old a torch t' your 'ead and set fire to your 'air, a firecracker did that."

Mai put a consoling arm around Valon's shoulders "I liked the fireworks, Valon."

"Really?" asked Valon, perking up immediately.

"Yes, I think you did a marvelous job—especially to Raphael's poor eyebrow," she said in a mock-mournful tone, and then she burst into laughter.

"Maybe we out to set you up an appointment for the receiving end of a fireball," retorted Alister flatly. "We think it would do a _marvelous_ job for you—especially for your hair."

Mai flipped her blonde hair arrogantly, but said nothing.

Needless to say, the mood was less than cheerful when Dartz entered the room.

"Nice to see you all here," he said calmly. "Our next target is located in South America, a drug lord by the name of Messina…"

As Dartz continued talking, Raphael noticed that Alister began looking around the room with a small frown. His gaze went back to Dartz, but shortly afterward his attention was diverted when Alister elbowed Raphael in his right side. "Are there supposed to be this many candles in here?" he asked in a whisper.

Raphael blinked as he looked around at his surroundings. He knew that there were usually twenty or so candles in the Great Hall, but that number seemed to have multiplied; there had to be about fifty more candles than normal. Where on earth had they gotten so many candles?

Valon must have over heard their conversation, because he gave a curious glance around them. In the next moment, he drew in a sharp breath. "Master Dartz, may I use the restroom?" he asked, and Raphael was surprised to hear a nervous tone in Valon's voice.

"You should have done that before the meeting," replied Dartz calmly, continuing on his deliverance of the background information on Messina.

Valon went pale and gulped, looking wildly at the candles as if he hoped to make them disappear with his eyes. Raphael could not help but notice the strange behavior of his younger friend, and he could tell that he did not like where this was heading. "Valon, what's wrong?" he asked in an undertone, making sure Dartz wasn't looking at them.

Valon gulped. "Raph, 'member the fireworks?" he asked softly.

"Hard to forget them. Why?" asked Alister in a low voice. He had heard 'fireworks' and his attention had been instantly caught. Mai shot them an irritated look, still angry about Alister's earlier comment about the fireball, and she huffed. But she paid no attention to their conversation.

Valon squirmed guiltily. "Well…I kinda bought more of 'em last May. I only set off 'bout 'alf of 'em on Saturday."

"And what does that half to do with anything?" asked Alister, but Raphael had a vague suspicion he knew what the teenager was about to tell them and he felt a certain dread in the pit of his stomach. He prayed fervently that he was sadly mistaken.

"I had to pass through customs with 'em, y'know, and I knew you blokes wouldn' let me keep 'em if you found them…so…I…I…"

"You what?" asked Alister breathlessly, his eyes widening in alarm. He had caught onto Raphael's suspicion and they both looked at each other before looking at Valon with identical looks of terror. "Please tell me that you didn't do what I think you did," said both of them in unison.

Valon nodded miserably.

"You are dismissed until further notice," said Dartz abruptly, signaling the end of the meeting.

"Uh, Master Dartz? Could you, uh, you know, go over tha' again?" asked Valon anxiously. "I was kinda preoccupied."

The other two bikers knew what Valon was trying to do. Usually after every meeting, their master would light the candles and meditate, chanting in his strange language while he knelt. This time, however, they knew what would happen if the Atlantean followed his routine.

"You can ask Alister or Raphael for the details you missed," the mint haired man replied, and he turned away from them. All three bikers exchanged anguished glances.

"Master Dartz, I wasn't paying attention either," said Alister quickly.

"Then ask Raphael, unless he also was not paying attention," replied Dartz as he turned back to face them, mild irritation showing through his calm demeanor.

"No need to panic, boys," said Mai, not looking up at them. She was filing her nails (an annoying habit she had; she did her manicure during the meetings). "I was paying attention to the going-on's this time."

"Excellent job, Mai," said Dartz with a smile.

"Master Dartz, where did you get so many candles?" asked Raphael, grasping for straws.

"Gurimo found them in one of the drawers of his bureau," said Dartz. "Now that the matter is settled, you are all dismissed."

"But—!"

"_You are dismissed._"

All three bikers exchanged anguished glances before practically running for the exit. Valon had a hopeful expression on his face. "Maybe we can make it if 'e doesn'—!"

At that moment though, events unraveled beyond their control.

Dartz clapped his hands and the electric lights went out, the candles all simultaneously lighting up. At that same moment, a loud crackling, hissing noise filled the hall as nearly fifty candles abruptly started spewing sparks. Dartz stared in disbelief at the sparkling pinpoints of light; Mai looked up, a surprised expression on her face, though a look of comprehension replaced it as she realized what was about to happen.

At least this time the DOOM soldiers had enough time to throw themselves to the floor.

* * *

"I never reckoned tha' these little 'crackers could cause such a 'eap of trouble," said Valon with a sigh, cupping his chin in his hand. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, his clothes covered in scorch marks.

"Anything that explodes is a heap of trouble," replied Alister flatly, his eyes closed as he leaned against the pillar. His hood was still up, though his clothes were burned in some places. "Though I certainly didn't mind it when the fireworks set Mai's hair on fire. From what I heard, both her eyebrows and half of her hair got singed off. That'll teach her about keeping her hair so long."

"Oi, now, c'mon. I don'' find tha' funny in the slightest," snapped Valon angrily.

"She was long overdue for a haircut," replied Raphael, speaking for the first time in ten minutes. He had managed to avoid losing his other eyebrow, but he also bore the scorch marks of the firecrackers. He sighed as he looked at his younger companions. "And while I thought it was hilarious to see Mai shrieking like a banshee, it wasn't so amusing that Master Dartz's pants caught fire."

"Well, I think I've learned a lesson about all this. I am not settin' off a firecracker f'r a while," declared Valon loudly.

"I don't think I will ever _look_ at one again," Alister supplied.

"I'm not thinking about one for a very long time," concluded Raphael.

All three of them nodded resolutely, but they fell into a glum silence. Valon at length sighed heavily and looked up at the sky. There was an oncoming storm about to hit them, and they would get drenched unless they had shelter.

Valon looked up at the locked gate of the temple and shook his head before looking up at his friends. "'ow long d'you reckon it's gonna be b'fore they let us back in?"


End file.
